Saves the Day vocalist/guitarist Chris Conley may only be a thirty-something, but he’s already had a 14-year career some musicians can only dream of. With 10 albums, including popular B-side and acoustic recordings, a side project with Say Anything’s Max Bemis, and legions of adoring fans, Conley is proof that the early guitarist catches the worm. He sat down recently with
Consequence of Sound to discuss finishing the band’s forthcoming album
Daybreak, honest songwriting, lyrical dismemberment, and philosophy.
You guys have the new album coming out this fall, Daybreak. This is the last one in that trilogy of albums that you were doing, which ended up being fairly spread out. Was that intentional?
No, that was supposed to be sort of a quicker project, and the albums were supposed to come out in three consecutive years. So, the first two albums came out a year apart from each other, and then in 2008 when we started work on Daybreak, our guitar player at the time was starting to figure out he didn’t really want to be touring anymore, and so we decided to part ways in 2008. So I found a new guitar player, and we had to really get the band organized as a unit before we could record an album. We put off the record for 2008 so that we could do some touring together and become a solid group on the road before we went into the studio. In 2009, we went into the studio to record Daybreak, and in the middle of the recording, our drummer and bass player got word from one of their other bands that they had a world tour booked, and they were gonna be whisked away for quite some time. So, we decided to part ways so that I could have a working band and I could keep touring even though those guys have other priorities.
I just made the decision that I wanted Daybreak to be played by people who were going to bring it on the road and support it on tour, so I decided to wait until we had another drummer and bass player and do the record again. We were two-thirds of the way done with Daybreak last summer when we decided to wait and re-track everything. By the time we got another drummer and bass player, of course we needed to do more touring to get tight as a band, and we didn’t get to record until 2010. So, that’s why it took so long—it was merely logistical.
So the album was written earlier, but it wasn’t recorded until more recently?
I had every song written– except for two– in 2008, and in early 2009, I finished the last two. The album’s been written for some time, but we just didn’t have the right opportunity to record it in earnest.
Do you feel like the album developed more, given the amount of time that had passed, or do you feel like you stayed true to what you had originally written?
The theme is definitely true to itself. None of the lyrical ideas changed. The songs, all of the compositions stayed the same, but I do think in some of the elements of instrumentation…there were really great features brought out in the songs, with the help of Arun Bali and Rodrigo Palma, our guitarist and bassist respectively. Their talents were a gift in the recording process. They constantly surprised me with interesting ways to approach different parts of the songs, and it was a treat for me, because I got to be surprised by things that they would try, and that was exciting. So, the songs did have new life breathed into them when Rodrigo and Arun joined, so that was… nice. It felt fresh again.
You started in music at such a young age. You’re still a young man and a lot of people your age are just making it big, when you’ve got a 15-year career. What kind of perspective does that give you on the industry?
You know, I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to do it for so long. And I think my perspective has changed through the years. But now that I’m older and Saves the Day has been around for a solid 14 years, I realize that it’s a lot less serious than you think it is when you’re young. Each album is just an album, each show is just a show, each tour is just a tour, and you’re playing music and you’re having fun. People like it or they don’t, and that’s it. It’s not life or death. And that helped me, because when I was younger, I wanted each album to do well and I wanted people to like it. I’m sure every musician feels that way. They just want people to hear their songs—and more it’s just for me. I just like doing it. And I wouldn’t stop, even if people didn’t want to hear it. I feel more calm doing it. I enjoy it a lot more, feeling detached like that.
That’s an interesting perspective, and I was going to ask because you seem very—kind of very zen, I guess, when you guys are in concert. I’ve seen you play a number of times, and you just seem so chill, and really happy about it. Is it hard to maintain that attitude in the music business, where a lot of people don’t really have that same approach to it?
Well, I mean, I don’t let other people’s attitudes sway me. If there are people in my band who can’t enjoy themselves, that becomes difficult. But if other bands are in it just for the success, that’s okay—that’s just how they are. I guess I’ve just been given this disposition sort of by life experience. I enjoy it, and I’ve got a supportive family and loyal fans, and I feel like I’ve kind of lucked out. It hasn’t been hard to maintain that perspective. The toughest thing really is that there’s not a whole lot of money in music, and when there’s not a lot of money, it creates tension and stress in people’s lives. And that’s the same story that everybody else in the world is telling. It’s not different from normal existence, and just like anyone else, you’ve gotta try to keep your head above the waves, even when life isn’t bringing up roses.
Photo via NJ Underground
I wanted to ask you too, because you’ve been playing music for so long— as a writer, I’m embarrassed of some of the things I wrote as a teenager. [Conley laughs] Most of us have the luxury of hiding those things away. How do you feel about playing the really old songs? Because your fans really, really love the b-sides and the old, and the rare stuff. Is there anything that you feel embarrassed about playing now, or “I wish they’d stop asking for that one song”?
[laughs] Sometimes I just get tired of playing certain songs over and over, and that’s just natural, having to do something for the thousandth time, but as songs, in and of themselves, I really like all of them. I’m really proud of the lyrics, and I like playing the old songs, too. I think some bands enjoy playing just their new stuff, and I understand that, but I like the old stuff. I like the in-between stuff, and I like the new stuff. It was always honest, and something that I was really feeling, so none of it seems insincere, you know? So when I revisit it, I sometimes feel proud that I could express myself clearly, and I also feel proud that I could face my fears and write about them, and then sing about them.
Is there a song that you’re most proud of writing?
This is going to seem strange, but my favorite song I’ve written so far is called “Where Are You”. It’s on In Reverie. It’s a very, very strange song. I think I like it because it seems like it came from outer space, and just as a music composition it seems odd. It seems like a bizarre tune to me. I think, lyrically, I’m most proud of Daybreak, the whole album. I just think the lyrics are absolutely the best I’ve ever done. And before Daybreak, I think my favorite lyrics would be “This Is Not An Exit”, from Stay What You Are, and a close second would be “Cars and Calories”. I really love those lyrics.
You are sort of famous for your lyrics, especially for the physical imagery. Is that something that’s still present on Daybreak?
Probably the very last you’ll hear of it comes kind of early in the record. I don’t feel as distraught in life as I once did, and the dismemberment in my lyrics was just an expression of alienation, and I feel more at home in my body, so there’s no desire to tear it to pieces.
You’re going to be touring with Get Up Kids this summer, but it’s a bit before the record comes out. Are you planning on playing a lot of Daybreak or mixing it with older stuff?
We’re gonna be playing old and new, but we’re going to be playing a ton of Daybreak on that tour. We’ll probably play two-thirds of the record every night.
How does your fans’ rabid appetite for B-sides affect your choosing of the setlist? Do you try to mix them up, or are there certain ones you always try to hit?
We always try to change it up, partly for our fans and partly for our own excitement. If you play the same song every night, for 300 shows in a row, it gets tiring. So, we change it up for ourselves. But we’re conscious of what our fan base is wanting to hear, so we do play a variety of songs old and new. Thankfully, we have so many songs that mixing it up seems like an endless task, because there’s constantly new songs to throw into the set that we haven’t tried in ages, so it’s kind of fun to mix and match the songs.
My personal favorite, my first Saves the Day song was “The Way His Collar Falls”, and I’ve never yet caught that one, but that one’s something of a rarity in concert, right?
Yeah! When did you hear it?
I’ve never heard it live, but a friend made a mix for me, and that song was on it, and I was like, “Who is this band?” And that was like 10 years ago and now y’all are my favorite, so…
Aww! That’s awesome!
So you guys do the Where’s the Band tour, and you also are active in Two Tongues with Max Bemis of Say Anything. Are there any other bands you’d like to play with, on your wish list?
Yeah, we’d love to tour with the Foo Fighters; I know they just put out a new record. We’ve never done a full tour with Thrice, and I think that would be a lot of fun. And we’re hoping to tour with Bayside, and hopefully we can get Dr Manhattan out there with us. And Taking Back Sunday, our old friends, it’d be fun to be back with them. Thursday—I don’t know, we’re sort of up for anything. It’d be great to be back on the road with Green Day, someday.
I wondered if you’re planning on doing another Two Tongues album?
We do have plans to do another one. We’re just kind of waiting for the right time, but we’re going to start working on demos pretty soon.
How do you and Max split songwriting duties? I know you split the vocal duties pretty evenly—how do you split the songwriting duties?
That was the idea. We wanted to collaborate 50-50. We wanted to start a song and have the other person finish it. So, Max would start a composition, and maybe come up with the verse and the chorus, and I would write the bridge, and we’d fill in vocal melodies together. Or, I would write a verse and the chorus, and he’d write the bridge, and we’d fill in vocal melodies together. So, we just sat down, sitting across from each other with guitars, and we just showed each other little ideas that we had. It was really easy to work together. We both are such big fans of one another’s music that when we heard the new ideas, it was pretty inspiring. So our creative mojo worked very well together.
Do you see you guys ever doing a tour as Two Tongues, or would you probably tour the two bands together and then play together, like you did in the fall?
We’d like to do a Two Tongues tour, but we want to do it after there’s another album, so there’s enough material to play.
So this is the end of your trilogy; where do you see Saves the Day down the road, five or ten years from now? What do you see yourself doing in music?
I think we’ll just stick around as long as we’re alive. There’s no reason to put the band away. I’m proud of all the songs I’ve written, I’m proud of all the lyrics. I don’t feel any need to cut my ties with Saves the Day. I don’t feel any need to change my musical direction drastically, like make a country album, so I’ll just continue writing songs and we’ll continue putting out records and continue to tour and play to our fans for as long as we possibly can.
What would you be doing if you couldn’t do music any more? If you woke up tomorrow and said, “This is it!”, what non-musical career would you see yourself in?
I’d probably go to school so I could be a professor of philosophy.
Any particular reason why?
I just think about it all the time. I don’t read much fiction, but I read a lot of Joseph Campbell, and I just enjoy thinking about the eternal realm and the field of time.
Any question you wish that I would ask—an interview question that you never get asked?
That’s a good question! Gee, you know… I can’t think of anything. [laughs] Uhh—What’s your favorite movie? People don’t ask that, and it’s actually a strange response.
Okay, what’s your favorite movie?
It’s called The Power of Myth, and it’s just a series of conversations with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell. It’s highly irregular material.
Philosophical in nature, I would imagine?
Yeah. It’s from PBS. It’s the most requested program in PBS history.
What are you listening to right now?
You know, this is just going to sound so redundant, but I downloaded a bunch of Joseph Campbell lectures, and I’ve been listening non-stop to lectures on man and world mythology and the nature of religions. It’s pretty boring to most people, but it fascinates me.
